


Soft

by transboypeteparker



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Latinx Tony Stark, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 12:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17580689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transboypeteparker/pseuds/transboypeteparker
Summary: Maybe Tony really is the soft parent





	Soft

_ Stark men don’t cry. _

It was pounded into Tony every day since he could first understand what his father was telling him.  _ Stark men don’t cry. _ And they didn’t. But Cerrera men weren’t afraid to shed a tear, and when Howard was away on business, Maria would whisper to her sweet Antonio that he was just as much a Cerrera as a Stark.

When he first saw Maria Peggy Rhodes-Stark enter the world, his first thought was,  _ she’s so beautiful _ . His second thought, however, was one of hate. Of spite.  _ Stark men don’t cry. _ But when he took her, his daughter, into his arms, he remembered. He isn’t a Stark man. Not anymore. He is a Rhodes-Stark, now, and just like Cerrera men, Rhodes-Stark men cry, and no one in that delivery room judged the new father for sobbing as he gazed upon his little girl. Rhodey came up beside him and rubbed his back as he too smiled tearfully at his daughter.

“We did it, Tones,” his husband whispered in his ear. “We finally did it.”

Tony couldn’t believe he was a father. He couldn’t believe he was a  _ good _ father. Because no one could ever look at Tony with his daughter and say he was anything but a  _ great _ father. He absolutely adored her. He didn’t think it was possible to love anyone this much, to love anyone more than he loved even Rhodey, but his daughter was the light of his life. Whenever she did anything, even if it was blink up at him as she woke up from a nap, Tony could feel something in his chest get warm. Love. Pride. Fear. So many emotions all wrapped up into one warm feeling below his reactor.

Rhodey teased him, called him soft. ‘Who would have ever thought the invincible Iron Man would be the soft  _ papi _ , huh?’ he said when the whole team came to visit their new niece. ‘Well when her other dad is called War Machine, I would say Iron Man is the softer one!’ 

Tony was the soft one, but he was soft because he remembered all the pain and shame and tears that came from having a father who wasn’t so soft. He remembered every night he and Rhodey lay in bed, his husband drawing lines over his scars with a gentle, loving touch. Tony didn’t want that for his daughter. He would rather be the softest father around than have her  _ ever _ experience even a  _ sliver _ of what he went through during his childhood.

They both thought they would die from cuteness overload when Maria, to get her fathers’ attention at breakfast, crossed her arms and screeched, ‘ _ Pap! Pap!’ _ She was calling for him, for her  _ papi _ . Tony had to wipe some tears from his cheeks before he could sweep the girl into his arms, peppering her face with kisses. ‘Ah,  _ gordita,  _ you’re so smart!  _ Papi _ is so proud of you!’ He could hear a sigh from his husband by the stove. ‘Tones, we’ve talked about this. You cannot call our daughter  _ gordita. _ ’ Maria let out a laugh when she heard her dad call her by Tony’s favorite pet name. ‘Oh, but Rhodeybear, why can’t I? Look at these chubby little cheeks!’

Rhodey could feel his whole body melt at the sight of his soft husband pinching their daughter’s squishy cheeks. What was he supposed to do? Say no to the love of his life? ‘Fine, Tony, but when she gets mad at you once she’s older, don’t come crying to me.’

Maria developed a habit in her fourth year of climbing into bed with her fathers, and the poor men didn’t have the heart to ever send her away. It became routine for their little girl to scuttle into their room during re-runs of  _ Fresh Prince of Bel Air _ and fall asleep on Tony’s chest, her chubby cheek squished up against the soft blue glow of his reactor. Rhodey loved gazing down at his two favorite people, his fingers getting lost in his husband’s thick curls, and he thought,  _ how the actual fuck did I get so lucky? _

They had been warned that having a kid was hard work, but the two Avengers really didn’t mind all the sleepless nights, all the wet beds, and all the temper tantrums, because they had spent so many years resigned to the fact they would never have a family, but  _ here they were _ . Sure, they had in a way become father figures to young Harley Keener and Peter Parker, but they also knew that the boys had their own families. It wasn’t their place to try and come in and replace the hard working women who were doing their goddamn best to raise them right. Tony and Rhodey had a child of their own now who looked to them solely for comfort, food, and safety. They had a  _ family. _


End file.
